Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is one of the most commonly performed procedures on the human knee. Primary surgical goals during ACL reconstruction include restoring translational and rotational stability of the knee. These goals are often achieved by utilizing a soft tissue graft that is fixated on the femoral and tibial sides of the joint. A common cause of graft failure within the first 6 weeks is loss of fixation strength. This loss of fixation strength is more commonly found on the tibial side rather than the femoral attachment of the ACL graft.
To alleviate the loss of fixation strength, surgeons often use a screw and washer on the tibial side of the joint to create a backup fixation whereby the suture tails of the ACL graft are tied around the screw as a post. A simple limitation with this type of backup fixation, however, is that the sutures tied around the screw can not be tensioned once they are tied. Furthermore, with the advent of double bundle ACL reconstruction, a need for independent tensioning of each ACL bundle has evolved. Unfortunately, the simple screw and washer configuration does not allow for independent tensioning of the four suture tails on the two independent bundle limbs.
The ability to attach sutures around a post and then be able to further tension those sutures to a desired tension after they have been tied would be beneficial, for example, during ACL reconstruction. Also, a desirable device would allow for independent tensioning of two sets of suture tails on a single tibial post, including tensioning of suture tails often found on the tibial side of the joint when performing a double bundle ACL graft.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.